N ASSA U AND BAHAMA ISLANDS LEADING NEWSPAPER Electric bills to rise Volume: 107 No.315TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 PRICE 75 (Abaco and Grand Bahama $1.25 WEATHER SHOWERS, T-STORM HIGH 85F LOW 75F By SANCHESKA BROWN Tribune Staff Reporter sbrown@tribunemedia.net DESPITE promises to the contrary, Bahamas ElectricityC orporation customers can expect a higher electricity bill during the next billing peri-o d, as the company announces a three cent increase in fuel surcharge. Customers can expect to p ay just over 26 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed in this last billing cycle as opposed to last months fuel charge of 23 cents. T he announcement comes a fter a summer marred by fre quent, widespread power outages that forced BEC to rent generators in an effort to keep up with demand while a $30 million overhaul of the system was completed. The vital overhaul had to be put off until this year, according to Minister of State for the Environment Phenton Neymour, thanks to the PLPs ill-advised rate reduction before the 2007 election which drained BECs funds. Last year, when the electricity rate was increased by five per cents in an effort to reverse the effects of the earlier cut, officials said this should be enough to deal with the corporations generation problems. Michael Moss, Chairman of BEC, yesterday said the new, slight increase is unexpecte d as traditionally fuel costs on the international market d ecline after the busy summer season. However, he said in the past few months projected declines in the price of f uel have not been realised. When I indicated in July that customers could expect a decrease in their electricity bills it was consistent with an expectation of falling fuel prices internationally and i ncreased production from the Clifton Pier plant, he said. However, the price has n ot gone the way it usually does in October. Around this time it should have decreased so this increase is definitely an aberration. Hopefully it will be shortlived. I cannot predict thef uture but I do believe it should correct itself soon. If it lasts long it will probably onlyh old for a month or two then go back to normal. Fortunately, Mr Moss said, because the weather is cooling down, consumers will use less electricity and their bill will most likely not increase despite the increase in fuel surcharge. He also said BEC does not control the cost of fuel and will not benefit from this increase. Customers are charged directly for the cost of fuel. Meaning when fuel prices increase internationally cus3 increase in fuel surcharge announced TRY OUR PINA COLADA McFLURRY The Tribune THEPEOPLESPAPER BIGGESTANDBEST LATESTNEWSONWWW.TRIBUNE242.COM " # $ % & " # '& ( ( ) ,-.( / . 0 ( ( / 1 / . 2 ) ) ( $ ) + (31 4 5 % & ) ) ) 6 " # TM /)2 B USINESS C C R R E E D D I I T T R R A A T T I I N N G G D D O O W W N N G G R R A A D D E E W W A A K K E E U U P P C C A A L L L L SEEBUSINESSONPAGE12B BASKETBALL C C A A V V A A L L I I E E R R S S F F A A L L T T E E R R A A S S S S U U N N S S S S H H I I N N E E SEESPORTSSECTIONE im lovin it THE sale of the former Ginn Sur Mer resort could be the shot in the arm the stag nant Grand Bahama econo my needs, said West End and Bimini MP Obie Wilchcombe. His comments came the same day it was announced that G-LA Resorts Holdings had obtained the controlling title of the former Ginn Sur Mer resort in West End, Grand Bahama. This could serve as that shot in the arm not only West End needs but Grand By LAMECH JOHNSON ljohnson@tribunemedia.net THE Court of Appeal yes terday denied an attorneys request to recuse herself from an appeal case where her client was re-sentenced to life in prison for murder. Monique Gomez, defence By LAMECH JOHNSON ljohnson@tribunemedia.net CHIEF Magistrate Roger Gomez denied a man bail after he was arraigned on two charges of attempted murder yesterday afternoon. While the chief justice acknowledged the strength of Jomo Campbells argument for bail on behalf of his client Rhajese Pinder, the chief of magistrates denied the defendant bail, citing the high levels of crime and violence in the By AVA TURNQUEST T ribune Staff Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net SCRAP metal workers r esigned themselves to the extension of the export ban yesterday. Meanwhile, dealers wel c omed the inevitable leg islative process, which they feel will decriminalise thei ndustry. The 90-day ban on the export of scrap metal hasb een extended to accommo date the passage the Pawnbrokers and Secondhand Dealers Act through the Sen a te. Everette Rolle, proprietor of Caribbean Recycling and T rading Solutions, said: There was always a concern that the legislation would notb e completed within the time o f the ban. We were still operating from the premise it would bee xtended. Once they dont put a restriction on anything else, we can continue operat i ng. The trade of scrap steel, iron, some types of aluminum, and derelict vehicles, remains unrestricted. However, scrap metal workers claim those materials are less profitable and require more effort to harvest than copper. Were only accepting iron and batteries, a worker at the Department of Environmental Health's derelict vehicle site said. People are discouraged. Before, people with no jobs at least they could go out and find metal. Now theyre working harder and not getting much, still something is better than nothing. Its not an easy Two found dead ZNS NEWS reported last night that two Bahamians have been found dead in Florida. Details remain sketchy, as their identity and the cause of death could not be confirmed before The Tribune went to press. CHARLES WILLIAMS, 39, outside court yesterday. However, the court proceedings were brought to a halt when Williams fainted in the courtroom. For the full story, see page 2.Photo: Tim Clarke L ATE BREAKING NEWS MAN ACCUSED OF RAPE FAINTS IN COURT WORKERS RESIGNED TO BAN EXTENSION HIGH LEVEL S OF CRIME LEAD TO MAN BEING DENIED BAIL S S E E E E p p a a g g e e 7 7 S S E E E E p p a a g g e e 7 7 S S E E E E p p a a g g e e 7 7 S S E E E E p p a a g g e e 7 7 S S E E E E p p a a g g e e 2 2 ATTORNEYS BID TO STEP ASIDE REJECTED GINN SUR MER RESORT SOLD

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LOCAL NEWS PAGE 2, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE By LAMECH JOHNSON ljohnson@tribunemedia.net A MAN who was expected to be charged in Magistrates Court with rape yesterday afternoon fainted before he could be arraigned. Charles Williams, 39, pitched forward from his seato n the front bench of Court 6, Parliament Street, hitting the floor hard and shocking those around him. The incident brought court proceedings to a halt. After it was conveyed to M agistrate Carolyn VogtEvans that a man had collapsed as she was initially busy with another persons case she immediately asked for paramedics to be contacte d. She then instructed police o fficers to lay Williams gently o n the bench while protecti ng his head. The officers attempted to do so, but were unable to pick h im up. Some of the officers hesitated, pointing out that the s uspect could be faking in an a ttempt to escape arraignment. Saying she was not willing t o take any chances, the judge left her chair to check on the suspect, reminding the offi-c ers that he is a human being. After the prosecutor checked his pulse and confirmed that he was breathing, Magistrate Vogt-Evans moved on to other mattersb efore coming back to the Labour Street residents arraignment 10 minutes later. After he woke, the magist rate repeatedly asked the m an if he needed water and if h e had been fed while in police custody. He finally nodded in response to the first question and shook his head in response to the second. W hile waiting for an ambul ance to arrive, the magistrate made an order for Williams to be remanded into police custody after examination at the hospital and noted that he would be arraigned onW ednesday, November 2. He i s to be arraigned in connect ion with a rape that allegedl y took place six days ago. T he prosecution alleges t hat he had sex with a woman w ithout her consent on Wednesday, October 26. P aramedics arrived shortly a fter 1pm to evaluate the susp ect. H e was escorted out of court in handcuffs by police officers, but did not enter the ambulance. country as his reason for doing so. Pinder appeared before the j udge and was charged with two counts of attempted murder where prosecution alleges that on Friday, October 21, the accused did attempt to cause the death of both Anthony Rolle and Omar Sturrup. T he defendant confirmed that he understood the charges after they were reada nd was not allowed to enter a plea to the offences. He was informed by Chief Magistrate Gomez that a Voluntary Bill of Indictment would be s erved against him on Thursday, December 8. The Bill would bypass a preliminary inquiry and d irectly forward the matter to the Supreme Court for trial. Prosecution had objected to Pinder receiving bail on the basis that the charges were serious in nature. While not going into details, the prosec ution noted that the accused a nd the virtual complainants in this matter were in an ongoing feud and indicate d that for the safety of the persons involved, Pinder i ncluded, denying bail was the best option. M r Campbell countered that prosecutions grounds for d enying bail had no merit as they presented no evidence to the court of his clients involvement in a feud. On the n ature of the offence, the attorney noted that every criminal matter that cameb efore the courts was of a serious nature and said that the serious nature of the offence should not be the sole grounds for bail. Mr Campbell noted that his client, according to the currenta nd soon to be amended Bail Act, was a prime candidate for bail. He noted that the 26year-old, of William Street, N assau Village, was not a career criminal as he is gainfully employed at Atlantis,P aradise Island, and had no previous convictions or pending matters before the courts, other than the one which he stands in court for today. He further noted that his client was not a flight risk andt hat Pinder is willing to abide by any conditions that the court may impose for conditions of bail. C hief Magistrate Gomez in reply said: Very good submissions, sir. Im sorry I havet o disappoint you today. He denied Pinder bail while reminding the attorney of the defendants right to appeal to the Supreme Court. The accused was remanded to Her Majestys Prison,F ox Hill until completion of the trial. The matter was adjourned to December 8. RHAYESE PINDER at court yesterday, where he was charged with two counts of attempted murder. P hoto:Tim Clarke/Tribune Staff MAN ACCUSED OF RAPE FAINTS IN COURTROOM HIGH LEVELS OF CRIME LEAD TO MAN BEING DENIED BAIL

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By CELESTE NIXON Tribune Staff Reporter c nixon@tribunemedia.net A LEADING local businessman said that if the DNAs economic plan attracts s upport, it will probably be because of the novelty factor. S uperwash president Dioni sio DAgular said there is n othing new in the plan itself apart from the fact that it c omes from a new party, but people will be curious about how they plan to go abouta chieving their goals. T hose attracted to the DNA like the fact that they are approaching the problem in a different way, however all the parties have the same goals: stimulating the econo m y, increasing job opportunities and creating new busi nesses, said Mr DAgular. He said: It is about the execution we have alreadys een what the FNM and PLP have done nothing much has changed with the struc ture of the economy during t heir terms in office. Revealing its economic plan at a town hall meeting at the British Colonial Hilton l ast week, the DNA said eco n omic reforms, enhanced a ssistance and new incentives are needed to tackle the still challenging economic situa t ion and facilitate growth. D NA chairman Mark Humes said the partys pro posed economic reforms will target critical areas of thee conomy, including employ ment, small business devel opment, national debt, own-e rship and ways to diversify the economy. The DNA suggested gove rnment expenditure should b e cut in an effort to balance t he budget. Mr Humes added that i ncentives offered to foreign investors should be availablet o Bahamians as well. P ointing to the number of f oreign-owned hotels in the B ahamas, he said the country is a tourist destination, yet n o Bahamians are hotel owne rs. The hotel industry has b een the same since independence, said Mr DAgular. As Bahamians have not been successful in the past a s hotel owners, he said, b anks are reluctant to lend them money for hotel vent ures. Mr DAgular said it would be difficult to change the pattern of ownership in the i ndustry if banks do not r eform their lending prac tices. LOCAL NEWS THE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 3 A 37-YEAR-OLD man who died in Abaco after his vehicle crashed into a tree Friday has been identified as Omar Penn. Police say Penn, of Crockett Drive, Marsh Harbour, Abaco, was headed south on SC Bootle Highway in the area of Joe's Creek and Leisure Lee Waterways when he reported-ly lost control of his truck shortly after 11pm. He received serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Initial police reports indicate he was not wearing a seat belt. A second man was also injured and was taken to a local clinic where he was treat-ed for minor injuries and released. Police are also trying to determine the circumstances surrounding a shooting incident that left a 33-year-old male of Tropical Gardens in hospital. Police say the victim was outside his home at Douglas Road around 3am Monday, when he heard gunshots and realised that he had been shot in his abdomen. The victim was taken to hos pital by ambulance where he is detained in serious condition. Active police investigations continue. And on Jerome Avenue a man returning to his apartment from the laundry between 8pm and 8.30pm on Friday was held up at gunpoint as he got out of his car. With the gun held to his chest, his assailant searched him, taking his cell phone and wallet. Although, he said, there was little money in the wallet, it contained his immigration and bank cards. He was then ordered to lie on the ground while his laundry and car was searched. Finding nothing else, his attacker fled on foot. The police were called. B y CELESTE NIXON T ribune Staff Reporter cnixon@tribunemedia.net HALLOWEEN is a day of evil and should be done a way with, according to the C hristian Council. Calling for the country to give up Halloween as a thing of our past, the council claimed it is the result of a once-religious holiday being twisted into an occasion for celebrating evil. All Hallows Eve, a day f or celebrating the saints, h as now become Halloween, when we place treats at the door to feed evil spirits, the council said in a statement. According to the council, H alloween is just one among m any examples of a sacred day that has been corrupted by secular influences. Parents should not put their children in harms way, the statement said, as sexual predators could use Hall oween as an opportunity to s trike. The council also warned that the public should be aware of the moral consequences of allowing children to dress up in costumes that h ave traditionally represented d arkness. We should be careful of the effects that exist on a subliminal level when we call and dress our children as ghosts, witches and goblins, it said. A local party supply retaile r, who wished to remain anonymous, said that as far as she and her staff are concerned, Halloween is a day of fun where people have the opportunity to dress up and h ave a good time. A dding that business was better this Halloween than last year, she said not everyone views the day in the same light as the Christian Council. But not all of her professional colleagues are of the s ame opinion. A representative of Party Mart, another local party supplier, said her shop supports the Christian Councils view and does not carry Halloween costumes or decorat ions. We are of the same belief as the council, she said. The representative added that so far the stores sales do not seem to have been affected by this policy decision. IN KEEPING with the prime ministers call for a new era of volunteerism, the government announced the launch of Volunteer Bahamas an innovative programme to harness the generosity of Bahamians and residents. Central to the programme is the idea that in order to decrease crime and create safer, healthier and more non-violent communities, we need partnerships between government, faith and community-based organisations, corporate citizens, philanthropic groups and individuals. Volunteer Bahamas will help to further galvanise the goodwill and charity of scores of volunteers for mentoring and community service and outreach. It will provide a database of volunteers for organisations in need of assistance and be a further source of assistance for those who are already volunteering, said the government. It said Volunteer Bahamas will provide guidelines for the training and use of volunteers as well as guidelines for those volunteering their time and talents. Registration forms for Volunteer Bahamas became available on the governments website at midnight last night. They are also available in New Providence at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture on Thompson Boulevard and at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development in the Main Post Office Building on East Street. Family Island residents can collect or return applications to the local administrators office. CHRISTIAN COUNCIL CALLS FOR END TO HALLOWEEN MORE DETAILS RELEASED ON CRASH AND SHOOTINGS VOLUNTEER BAHAMAS LAUNCHED BUSINESSMAN: OTHING NEW IN DNA PLAN SUPERWASHPRESIDENT Dionisio DAgular said there is nothing new in the DNAeconomic plan

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EDITOR, The Tribune. Previous to 2011, I documented and distributed as olution to the countrys politi cal heads and the official policing units in regards to armed robbery prevention. I am satisfied and optimistic that the solution will discoura ge armed robbers or actuall y catch them after they have committed a robbery. The C entral Bank must team up with the business community and the Royal BahamasP olice Force. The Central Bank must design a new series of monet ary bills specifically for this s cheme. Then the government must publicly warn nationals thata nyone found in possession of the specific series will be apprehended by police per-s onnel. In my opinion, the most effective currency would be a one hundred dollar note series. After warning the public constantly for a few months of the specific series, af ree crime workshop for all business owners and the gen eral public should be orchestrated. Businesses should be informed to place visible safes i n their establishments and l eave them closed but unlocked for the criminals quick access. Distribute the newlydesigned funds that are targeted to catch armed robberst o local businesses and instruct them to place the monies in the visible safe. Explain that businesses must constantly empty their cash registers ands till leave sufficient petty cash i n their drawers. When the robber approache s an establishment with i ntention to commit armed r obbery, the safe may then be t he target instead of the cashier and the register. Once the public has been effectively warned months prior to the implementation of the plan,s uccessful armed robbers w ould have difficulty using t he stolen funds. For example, if a crook that w as set up by this initiative tries to deposit the monies into a bank account, bankr epresentatives would have been well informed and they are currently well trained to silently alert the authorities on such matters. If an innocent individual receives the monies from ther obber negligently, that individual too has a responsibility to declare a source of fundi ng and that will help track the real culprit. This currency must also be internationally banned because people can leave the country and change curren-c ies abroad. A hundred dollar s eries is excellent because it is hard to find change at times and in some cases it will help prohibit rip-offs for the vendors who sell roadside who d ont have business fraudul ent equipment such as money detectors, etc. O n the other hand, the culprit may be aware of the governments plot and decide top ull up to a street vendor with the marked bills and simply ask for five twenty dollar p hone cards; so I will be the f irst to say the initiative may have some negative repercus sions if the public is unaware o r not properly informed and warned. It can work though because t he Bahamian currency is not a spending option globally like the US currency; therefore it is easy to control. This idea may sound complicated but this idea or something similar is worthwhile forc rime prevention in the long run, especially armed rob beries. Therefore, I reiterate this recommendation because I believe there is merit in it. E LKIN B SUTHERL AND Jr Nassau, October 25, 2011. EDITORIAL/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P AGE 4, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE The Tribune Limited NULLIUS ADDICTUS JURARE IN VERBA MAGISTRI Being Bound to Swear to The Dogmas of No Master LEON E. H. DUPUCH, Publisher/Editor 1903-1914 SIR ETIENNE DUPUCH, Kt., O.B.E., K.M., K.C.S.G., (Hon. Publisher/Editor 1919-1972 Contributing Editor 1972-1991 EILEEN DUPUCH CARRON, C.M.G., M.S., B.A., LL.B. Publisher/Editor 1972Published Daily Monday to Saturday Shirley Street, P.O. Box N-3207, Nassau, Bahamas I nsurance Management Building., P.O. F-485, Freeport, Grand Bahama TELEPHONES S witchboard (News, Circulation and Advertising) 322-1986 A dvertising Manager (242 C irculation Department (242 N assau Fax: (242 F reeport, Grand Bahama: 1-(242 Freeport fax: (242 ANY POLITICAL party that tells a community that Urban Renewal, whether it be Urban Renewal 2.0 or 4.04, is a quickf ix for this countrys crime problem is fooling the people by encouraging them to c lutch at moonbeams. T his is not to denigrate Urban Renewal, which is a long-term solution, the effects of which will probably not be able t o be properly assessed until the next gene ration. H owever, for those who want to see the ugly head of crime crushed with the u tmost speed, community policing is one of the many answers. In fact, community policing the initiative of the RoyalB ahamas Police Force morphed into U rban Renewal and, unfortunately, into t he arms of politicians during the Christie administration. W e have been told that the Urban Renewal programme received an international award. In fact, it was not UrbanR enewal that received the award from the International Association of Commissioners of Police (IACP w as the Royal Bahamas Police Force. And this was how their community initiative was described in the IACPs 1999-2006 report: The Royal Bahamas Police Force w orked with area residents to form a com munity task force comprising officers, members of local churches, the businessc ommunity, residents, and reformed gang members. The task force patrolled the streets on foot, and in vehicles 24 hours ad ay, seven days a week, leaving criminals little time or space in which to operate. Now this is where Urban Renewal came in: The task force, said the IACP, alsow orked with the Departments of Social Services, Housing, Environmental Health, and Public Works to improve living conditions. O ne of the award winners was Farm Roads marching band, started by the police with the assistance of business per s ons. There was no political affiliation w ith this programme. The boast today of the Eastern Divisions marching band, again a police creation, is that they are ofa ward-winning standard. When Urban Renewal came along, the police continued their community policing programmes, but got diverted to add muscle to the work o f social workers who government had introduced into the various communities under the name of Urban Renewal. Of course, things moved more efficiently when backed by a police officers orders. For example, if an Environmental department employee gave instructions for the removal of derelict cars, they coulde xpect some lip. But for the order to come from a police officer, it was a yes, s uh and a shuffle into speedy action. H owever, one of the many criticisms of what is now known as Urban Renewal was that the workers who were attached to t he programme were especially selected by P LP politicians. It was soon discovered t hat serious people were sitting around a table having discussions with persons who c ould hardly read or write. It did not take the Ingraham administration long to understand how communityp olicing had been hijacked. As a result, the p olice were removed from the social serv ices side of the programmes and sent back to doing what they did best and for w hich they had won an international award community policing. That does not mean that if needed the various socials ervices cannot call on them for assistance. They are called on, and they do respond. According to Mr Christie, the urban r enewal programme established by his government offered people hope. It had had noteworthy results in communities in which it had been established. He p romised that if returned he would renew Urban Renewal with a stepped-up pro gramme Urban Renewal 2.0. There is a compelling need in this country for us to recognise that we are out of control with crime and that we dok now the influences that are affecting the young people, Mr Christie told members of the House in discussing the various crime bills then being debated. M eanwhile, the police are continuing with their community programmes among them after-school programmes for y oung people. There are the after-school programmes in the Eastern Division, high lighting Fox Hill, the Western Division, a nd the Central division with the 242 mode l programme for young people with behavioural challenges. The Southern Division has included in its programmes aC rime Watch Group for business persons to assist them in patrolling their businesses. And so social services a branch of U rban Renewal continues with its pro grammes in the communities, while the police are now free to step up their community programmes in addition to track ing down criminals. A solution to armed robbery? LETTERS l etters@tribunemedia.net Community policing became urban renewal EDITOR, The Tribune. I was truly saddened when I h eard the news that Stephen Davis aka Lil Runks or Stevie was killed on Saturday, Octo-b er 22, 2011. He was killed in Johnson Road, an area where I grew up. H is homicide brings the number to at least four young men who have met their demise this year from thisc ommunity alone. Ricardo Edgecombe, Teron Fowler, Dion Knowles, and now Stephen Davis are all men who either grew up and or lived in this community. Stevie was not a saint. I r emember many times advising him to calm down and take it easy. Most times hew ould listen, but you always got the feeling that in his mind, the matter was never resolved. He told me how difficult it was for him when he was growing up. He said that he basically grew up on the s treets and fended for himself. All he knew was thug life or street life. This is indeed at ragedy faced by many young men in our society today. But who is to blame? S hould we continue to let wayward children go hungry which ultimately leads them to steal for a meal? Shouldw e continue to take money from our children from the proceeds of illegal activities? Should we continue to give our corner boys high fives when we know that they are performing an illegal act? S tevie was shot twice before, but he still loved life and freedom. I remember himg oing to court last year for several matters. He said that he was going to fight all the cases he had to answer to. It appeared that he, like many accused persons, was able to beat the system. And now he has been k illed. And the cycle continues. Yet another murderer roams our streets. Yet anoth-e r child has lost a father. When are we going to get up off our behinds and offer ah elping hand to a disadvantaged child? When are we going to stop believing that the police and the govern m ent have the answers to all of our problems? When are we going to stop creasing up in our homes and become a part of the solution? When are we going to see the impor tance of building community c entres in every community? The blame is you and me. The blame is in all of us. DEHAVILLAND MOSS Nassau, October 29, 2011. Who is to blame?

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By DANA SMITH d smith@tribunemedia.net T HE Caribbean is sufferi ng from a collection of problems brought on by the globa l economic downturn, the Archbishop of the West I ndies said yesterday. A ddressing a press confere nce in Christ Church Cathed ral, Archbishop John Holder said it is part of the churchs job to help people cope with such issues. The most common issue i s the challenge of the financial times. We are all facing the collection of problems that have been brought on by the downturn of the world economies, he said. A rchbishop Holder is in New Providence to head the biannual meeting of theH ouse of Bishops and the Standing Committee of the Anglican Church of the West I ndies. (The bishops province at least twice each year and during these meetings we discuss severali ssues, Archbishop Holder said. What the province tries to d o is to get an understanding o f what is happening in each country of the diocese. We sit down and reflect and try to see how the church in that particular area can make an impact can assist inm aking these countries better than they are now, he said. Archbishop Holder said each diocese will have to work out a way to respond to t he challenges facing its memb ers. He suggested the creation of very strong social out-r each programmes to benefit the needy. Archbishop Holder is also i n town to attend the 150th a nniversary celebrations of the Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and CaicosI slands. Laish Boyd, Bishop of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, said he was grateful for the Archbishop's pres-e nce. Bishop Boyd spoke on the planned festivities, whichi nclude a special church serv ice, a city blessing, and a ball. We have a wide variety of services and activities planned and that is because God is so great and so wonderful that one meeting alone cannota dequately give him praise, Bishop Boyd said. We commend these events to the general public we crave your prayers for the continued growth and well b eing of the church in these p arts. Archbishop Holder applauded the plans, saying: I think the celebration of this anniversary reminds us of the work and the history of the A nglican church in the C aribbean. Weve been here all these years and we have made a sig n ificant contribution to the development of these islands. Planned for the 150th anniversary celebrations are: ag ala ball at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort on Friday at 6.30pm, and a mass of thanks-g iving at Christ Church C athedral on George Street at 3pm. Following the mass, there will be a candlelight procession to Rawson Square for the blessing of the City of Nas-s au. Several visiting bishops will be here until the end of the week for the celebration, and the biannual meeting will take place at the Holy Cross Parish C entre on Soldier Road. It's good to be here in the diocese at this time, as we celebrate a very very importanta nniversary, Archbishop Holder said. LOCAL NEWS THE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 5 B y DENISE MAYCOCK T ribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net FREEPORT The Grand Relay Run, held in observance of the 150th anniver-s ary of the Anglican Diocese o f the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos, is being hailed as an enormous success. Deputy Director of Education Cecil Thompson said thee vent was well supported b y religious leaders, hundreds o f students, police and Defence Force officers, and teachers. During the Grand Relay, a torch known as the Flame ofC hristianity and Education was carried around the entire i sland including Sweetings Cay. The relay was held over a three-day period beginning on October 26 and covered2 50 miles a feat Mr Thomps on says would not have been p ossible without the support o f so many. It was a unique and historic event, with ecumenicals upport and participation, Mr Thompson said. More than 90 churches of v arious denominations and 48 p ublic and private schools took part. The opening ceremony was held at St Stephens Anglican Church in Hepburn Town t he oldest church in the northe rn Bahamas, established in 1848. The first leg covered West G rand Bahama. Mr Thompson said they visi ted all the schools in the area a nd spoke about the signific ance of 150th anniversary. He noted that retired vete ran educator Urban Gibbs, f ormer MP Pastor Lindy Russ ell and Bahamian singer Jay Mitchell all participated. The second leg took place on October 27 in East Grand Bahama. T he students of Bishop M ichael Eldon Anglican School carried the flame from Casuarinas Bridge to Freetown, covering 22 miles. The remaining distance to McCleans Town was coveredb y PE teachers and students from various government schools. Minister of Housing and High Rock MP Kenneth Russell joined students who carried the flame to SweetingsC ay, completing the second leg. T he third and final leg was held on October 28, covering the City of Freeport. Canon Father Harry Bain was among those who carried the flame. M r Thompson said the event was a tremendous success and commended thes chools which participated. He also thanked the police and Defence Force for pro-v iding escorts for the runners. What we have done in this A rchdeaconry is unique; none o ther has done this. We have t ravelled over 250 miles on t he island and that is historic, and I am extremely grateful f or the support given by religious leaders here. The flame of Christianity a nd Education connects us all. I have participated in many parades on the island, and this one tops the list as we werea ble to cover the entire island with the support of hundreds of people, Mr Thompson said. RELAY RUN A SUCCESS BISHOP Laish Boyd, Archbishop John Holder, and the Dean of Nassau Patrick Adderley at a press conference yesterday. ARCHBISHOP: IT IS PART OF CHURCHS JOB TO HELP PEOPLE COPE WITH TOUGH TIMES

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ARTISAN Hadassah Rolle Poitier, 94, was named thisy ears Special Craft Gem during ceremonies to mark Craft Week. Formerly of Old Bight, Cat Island, Mrs Poitier was described as a strong and fearless warrior for God. A long-time member of the S traw Vendors Association, M rs Poitier attends Hillview Seventh-Day Adventist C hurch, where her Service of Thanksgiving was held last Thursday. The Handicraft Development and Marketing Departm ent of Bahamas Agricultura l and Industrial Corporation ( BAIC) hosted the event. Dignitaries included the Minister of Agriculture and M arine Resources Larry Cartwright. Even though she was othe rwise employed, straw work h as always been Mrs Poitiers passion. She loved sewing and designing bags, dolls, purses, hats and slippers. Her products were a hit a mong the tourists. She spent almost every free moment in the straw market, which was then a centre of economic activity for Bahamians. S he said she believes in the adage that hard work never k illed anybody and continu ed diligently with her passion. If we could instil in the minds of our people more of M rs Poitiers values, we would h ave a much better country, said BAIC executive chairm an Edison Key. We would be much more productive. LOCAL NEWS PAGE 6, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE THE Bahamas Chiroprac t ic Association has been officially recognised by the government. The chiropractic profession was born in the Bahamas in 1946 when Dr Maurice Kellyo pened his practice. S ince that time, the profes sion has grown to 12 doctors with a few Bahamian studentss tudying at chiropractic col leges in the US and Canada. The Bahamas Chiropractic A ssociation received govern m ent approval as a non-profit organisation. Our goals as an associa tion are to educate the community and the other health care professionals to the importance of a healthy spine and nervous system so we can work together in the restoration and maintenance of a healthier Bahamas, said the association in a statement. The chiropractic profession continues to teach that a healthy life-style is impera tive and primary to assist the body in healing itself. Chiropractic is a non-invasive, natural approach to heal ing. We look to remove nerve interference in the nervous system thus restoring the natural flow of life in the body which validates our wellknown Bahamian saying: Thank God for Life, the statement said. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALL Y RECOGNISES CHIR OPRA CTIC ASSOCIATION Share your news The T ribune wants to hear fr om people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an awar d. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story. ARTISAN HADASSAH POITIER HONOURED ARTISAN HADASSAH ROLLE flanked by A griculture and M arine Resources Minister Larry Cartwright (left BAIC executive chairman Edison Key. P hoto:Derek S mith/BIS If we could i nstil in the m inds of our people more of Mrs Poitiers values, we would have a much better country. Edison Key, B AIC executive

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B y DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter d maycock@tribunemedia.net F REEPORT A male res ident of Eight Mile Rock was arraigned in Freeport Magist rates Court on Monday in c o nnection with a home invasion and armed robbery in the F reeport area. Bendrico Bain, 19, appeared in Court 2 before Magistrate Andrew Forbesw here he was charged with one count each of housebreaking and armed robbery. I t is alleged that on October 26, the accused entered a resi cence at Pioneers loop and r obbed the occupants. Bain was not required to enter a plea to the charge and was remanded to Her M ajestys Prison until March 5, 2012. According to reports, police are still searching for two other men in connection with last Wednesdays incident when three masked men jumped the fence of a nearby yard,k icked down the front door and held the occupants at bay. LOCAL NEWS THE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 7 :LQ)5((DP PRJU DP IRU OLIH tomers will pay a higher fuel charge. BEC does not control the cost of fuel nor do we get money from the fuel component on the electricity bill.T hat is paid directly to the f uel supplier. BEC depends solely on the base rate charged to consumers to sustain its operation, he said. To put things into perspective, Mr Moss said: In October of last year for heavy fuel oil, I was paying a price of$ 75.94 per barrel. This year, in September, I paid $112.06 per barrel for that heavy fuel oil. For diesel in October of last year, I paid $95.70 per barrel. In September, I paid $151.32 p er barrel. Thats a 47.6 per c ent increase in the cost of h eavy fuel oil and a 58.1 per cent in the cost of diesel. M r Moss said the average consumer uses about 350 kilowatt hours per month so thea verage consumer can expect a minimum increase of $10.50 in their next electricity bill. BEC is advising its customers to continue to conserve energy. Mr Moss said by reducing t he amount of electricity consumed, consumers can help reduce the cost of their m onthly electricity bills. wait, we just can't do anything. I wouldnt mind (government) giving people like a week or two to get all the paperwork sorted and thenl et them ship out, but dont j ust stop it all together, the w orker said. (Government s idered the clean up part. Its free clean up. There is theft everywhere you go, robbers, its in every industry. In July, the government p laced the temporary ban on the scrap metal trade, while imposing a permanent ban on all copper exports in an effort to curb theft and destruction of p roperty which has been said to be linked with the industry. L enroy Rolle, of Arrow Recycling, said: The first time when they did it, we were a little upset because we were unaware it was going to happ en and it affected our business. I understand why they did it, and I feel as if it's for the better. We need to get people to stop stealing so we as the deale rs wouldnt look like were involved in criminal activity. We had to let go of some staff because we couldn't afford to keep paying them, but as things progress we will bring them back on slowly, M r Rolle said. Until the government is satisfied that we are running a legitimate business, the innocent will have to suffer for the guilty. P rime Minister Hubert Ingraham tabled the Pawnb rokers and Secondhand Dealers Bill 2011 in the House of Assembly earlier this month which sets out operational guidelines and r egulations for pawn brokers, cash for gold operators and scrap metal dealers. During his communication in Parliament, Mr Ingraham s aid the bill seeks to address the challenges being experie nced as a result of the unregulated cash for gold and scrap metal businesses by providing a regulatory regime to protect legitimate busin esses, while maintaining safeguards for the public. It is unclear how long the ban will remain in place. However, officials said it s hould be announced sometime this week. Bahama needs. Its also a validation that what we have e nvisioned in the PLP was g ood and the government sees the need to continue it, M r Wilchcombe said. I dont know the company but we have been given ag uarantee that the corporate role played by Ginn will continue and that there will be m ore involvement of people o f West End. Before the Ginn development fell into foreclosure,t here were about 1,000 people employed on the property, Mr Wilchcombe said. H e hopes unemployed pers ons in West End and the wider Grand Bahama community can again capitalise on t he development. He said: Im talking to my constituents daily about get-t ing ready to be participants, not only as employers but to be providers. We want Grand Bahama to reclaim itself as a tourism destination, for that to happen it needs developmentsl ike Ginn. Before Ginn came to a halt, there were more t han 1,000 employees there, that tells you the significant impact its going to have. Ih ad a town meeting, and the general (consensus want to make sure were involved and were anxious for this to happen. The sale includes 1,500 a cres of land and associated d evelopment rights, 632 finished lots and an airport with a helicopter landing pad. W hile the Ginn community has endured a period ofu ncertainty, the new owners e nsured them that the cons truction of vital infrastructure never stopped and is now c ompleted. With the finalisation of the title transfer process, ther esort is ready to begin marketing again to potential owners. More than $500 million has been invested to create a distinctive community complete with a marina, hotel, golf c ourse and airport, said a s tatement released yesterday. Over the next six months, the new owners will focus onm aster planning, the construction of model homes andp reparing for a sales launch. T he $4.9 billion project was a nnounced in 2005 under the former PLP administration. It was described as the l argest single mixed use resort development project in the Bahamas. Developer Robert Bobb y Ginn, the named investor/ d eveloper, acquired about 2 ,000 acres of land in West E nd and proposed to develop 4,400 condo units, a tower r esort, 800 single family resi dential lots, mega yacht and marinas, and two signaturec hampionship golf courses a mong other amenities. I n 2007, Ginn had acquired the Old Bahama Bay Resort i n West End. Financial trouble began to surface in 2009 when Ginno btained a $675 million synd icated loan from Credit Suisse, which was secured on Ginn Sur Mer and four other properties it was developing. Ginn defaulted on the repayments due on this loan,l eading the Credit Suisse to foreclose on it in January 2010, including the Grand Bahama real estate it was secured upon, making them the developer's joint venture p artner in the project. attorney for Ellison Smith, told appellate court justices she wished to withdraw fromthe case because representing Smith would be a conflict,as she had worked for the Attorney Generals office while her client was prosecut ed and convicted of murder. She told the court she had only learned of this fact recent ly when meeting her client. However, appellate court president Justice Anita Allen, along with Justices Stanley John and Abdulai Conteh, told Ms Gomez her grounds for recusal did not satisfy the court there was a conflict withthe attorney being able to take on the case. Director of public prosecu tions Vernetta Graham-Allen agreed, citing that the attorney prosecuting her clients trial at the time he was convicted and sentenced was the only acceptable ground for recusal. On that note, the presiding judges instructed the attorneyto proceed with the case only to reveal they were not in possession of submissions regard-ing the grounds for appeal. Ms Gomez then conveyed she had not had the chance to file the documents and request ed an adjournment to do so. Her client, Ellison Smith, was charged in 1997 with the killing of Free National Movement Cabinet Minister Charles Virgil on February 13 of that year. The then state minister for housing was killed during a kidnapping and armed rob bery where police reports note that his attackers had assaulted him outside his home on West Bay Street and forced him into a car. Mr Virgil was found in a field at the Bahamas Elec tricity Corporation on Soldier Road two days later. Smith and a second man, Anthony Evans, were sen tenced to death for the killing in 1999. However, the decision was overturned by the Privy Council who ruled that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional. As a result, both men had to be resentenced. Ms Gomezs client was only resentenced October last year in Supreme Court by Senior Justice Jon Isaacs in Supreme Court. He had been on incarcerated for 15 years. Justice Allen noted that the court would list a date for the hearing to be heard, indicating that the earliest time for it to be accommodated would be in January 2012. f f r r o o m m p p a a g g e e o o n n e e f f r r o o m m p p a a g g e e o o n n e e f f r r o o m m p p a a g g e e o o n n e e f f r r o o m m p p a a g g e e o o n n e e ATTORNEYS BID TO STEP ASIDE REJECTED WORKERS RESIGNED TO EXTENSION OF BAN ON SCRAP METAL EXPORTS FREEPORT A man is in hospital after being shot in the neck over the weekend during an attempted armedr obbery at Bootle Bay. A ssistant Superintendent of Police Clarence Reckley, assistant press liaison officer, reported that three men are now in custody assisting police with their investigations into the matter. A ccording to police r eports, at about 4.12pm on S aturday, police received a report that three armed masked men had entered ah ome in Bootle Bay. The culprits held the occupants at bay a nd demanded cash. A SP Reckley said one of t he occupants, a 47-year-old m an, was shot in the neck during the ordeal. A lthough the culprits fled, Mr Reckley said quick police action and co-operation fromt he public resulted in the a rrests of three male suspects. I nvestigations continue. INDECENT ASSAULT A 31-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with indecent assault and burglary. Marvin Stuart, a resident of Sea Horse Village, appeared i n Court Three before Deputy Chief Magistrate Helen Jones. He was charged with two c ounts of indecent assault, one count of assault with intent to commit rape, one c ount of unlawful sexual intercourse, and one count of burglary. Stuart was not required to e nter a plea to the charges and was remanded to Her Majestys prison until Janua ry 1, 2012. TEEN CHAR GED AN 18-YEAR-OLD was o rdered to wear an electronic monitoring device following his arraignment on house b reaking charges. Brian Taylor, a resident of Pioneers Loop, pleaded notg uilty to one count of houseb reaking in Court One before Magistrate Debbye Ferguson. He was granted $500 bail and ordered to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. Bain also appeared in Court 2 before Magistrate A ndrew Forbes on two counts of housebreaking. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted $7,000 bail with two sureties. The matters were adjourned to June 5, 2012. BENDRICOBAIN HOME INVASION CHARGE MAN SHOT IN NECK DURING ROBBERY ELECTRICITY BILLS TO RISE GINN SUR MER SALECOULDBESHOT IN THE ARM FOR GRAND BAHAMA C ONSTRUCTION WORK o n the Ginn Sur Mer site in 2007.

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By NEIL HARTNELL T ribune Business Editor THE BAHAMAS minim al economic growth prospects and lack of diversi fication yesterday prompted a Wall Street credit rating a gency to slash its sovereign credit rating to BBB/A-3, something a former financem inister said reflected how this nation had been hit extremely hard by the global r ecession. Standard & Poors (S&P unveiling a downgrade from the Bahamas previous BBB+/A-2 sovereign rating, said it was taking the action as a result of its revised ratings m ethodology, which placed heavier weight on econom ic diversity and growth prospects. Both areas were relative weaknesses for the Bahamas, given that tourism according to S&P accounted for m ore than 50 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP 50 per cent of the labour force, with the weak US econ omy generating more than 80 per cent of visitors. Projecting economic growth of 1.5 per cent for the Bahamas in 2011, an estimatei n line with the Central Bank of the Bahamas but below the International Monetary Funds (IMF matched the latters projections for 2.5 per cent growth in 2012 and 2013, seemingly on the back of the $2.6 billion Baha Mar project. Real per capita GDP had grown by an average 1.7 per cent over the past five years, hitting almost $23,000 this year, S&P added, but this was more than offset by the Bahamas risk factors. James Smith, former min $4. 68 $4. 51 $4. 69The information contained is from a third p arty and The Tribune can not be held r esponsible for errors and/or omission from the daily report.$ $5.09 $5.04 $5.03 T HETRIBUNE SECTIONB business@tribunemedia.netTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 rnrt$ nt$ $ rfnrbfrftfb nrt InternationalInvestmentFund BAHAMASNassau:242.356.9801 Freeport:242.351.3010 BARBADOSSt.Michael:246.435.1955 [Learn more at royaldelity.com] By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE COVE and Royal Towers at Atlantis have already "sold out" fort he Thanksgiving holiday weekend as the resort gets set to host the richest pre-season tournament in college basketball, Kerzner International (Bahamas terday, with occupancies 30 percentagep oints ahead of prior years. T he Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, scheduled for November 24 to 27, is e xpected to generate an influx of hotel By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor THEWater & Sewerage Corporation may have2 0,000 inactive accounts as a result of consumers dumping its service, it hasb een revealed, as it aims to reduce non-revenue water from 55 per cent to just 20 p er cent of total supply. A September 2011 Environmental and Social A nalysis, prepared by B ahamian environmental consultant Stacey Moultrie for an $81 million Inter-A merican Development B ank (IDB ing to rehabilitate the W ater & Sewerage Corpo rations water supply and wastewater treatment provision, described reducing w ater losses from five mil lion gallons per day to two million gallons as the cornerstone of bringing the G overnment-owned entity to financial self-sustain ability. Disclosing the extent to which Bahamian business and residential consumersh ave dumped the Water & Sewerage Corporations services, due to a combina tion of service and water quality concerns, the report B y NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor THE BAHAMAS International Securities Exchanges ( BISX) chief executive yesterday said recognition by US regulators was a gigantic leap forward that would enable the exchange to provide a platform for US-registered entities to i ssue securities throughout the world, increasing business vol umes and trading activity. Disclosing to Tribune Business that BISX was seeking By NEIL HARTNELL T ribune Business Editor THECanadian-based developer hired to move the former $4.9 billion Ginn surm er project forward yesterday said it was aiming to crea te critical mass by selling 632 serviced lots, its chief operating officer acknowledging it had a big mountain to climb. B ill Green said Replay Resorts planned to initiate a marketing campaign toa ttract destination owners to acquire the remaining serviced lots in West End, t elling Tribune Business it would not need to sell all the 6 32-strong inventory to generate the necessary momentum. A cknowledging that R eplay would have to effect ively create a market from scratch, Mr Green explained i t would target connectors and friends/relatives of pur chasers who had already a cquired 194 lots. This is a large scale proj ect that is going to be, quite frankly, a couple of decades in the making, Mr Green t old Tribune Business. Conf irming that Replays plans w ould be heavily influenced by where the market is t oday, he added: Our intention is to prime the mar ket by seeking people who GIGANTIC LEAP FOR BISX AS US ISSUER PLATFORM SEC recognition to boost business activity volume In talks over two more recognitions Assesses opportunity for local broker/dealers SEE page 4B KEITHDAVIES BIG MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB OVER EX-GINN PROJECT New developer targets critical mass through sale of 632 serviced lots Build-out couple of decades in the making Eyes joining Credit Suisse lenders with equity stake SEE page 6B DOWNGRADE A WAKE-UP CALL S&P slashes Bahamas sovereign rating o ver low growth and no diversification outlook Ex-finance minister says shows nation hit extremely hard by recession shocks Rating agency predicts 2.5% growth in 2 012 and 2013 JAMES SMITH SEE page 5B THE WATER CORPS 20,000 DORMANT ACCOUNT Target to reduce water losses from 5 5% to 20% of total s upply within five years Taxpayers paying $33.50 each per year t o subsidise Corporat ion even if service not used SEE page 4B ATLANTIS UP 30% PTS ON OCCUPANCY NORM The Cove and Royal Towers close to sold out for Thanksgiving basketball tournament But rates still soft, as promotion offers up to 60% o ff for peak winter season on PI SEE page 6B

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By LARRYGIBSON W E AREprobably now within six months of the next general election. In the not too distant future, the major political parties will be rounding out their slate of candidates. This time around, we are being promised a real three-way race as the incumbent Free National Movement (FNM gressive Liberal Party (PLP and the recently-formed Democratic National Alliance (DNA have all indicated they will contest every seat. In the coming weeks, a nswers will be forthcoming to speculation such as: Who will be dropped? Who will be the new faces? Who will get knocked out before the bell is rung because of skeletons in the closet? Then it will be up to the people to determine who will lead the Bahamas for the n ext five years. Are we getting the best candidates in the mix? There is no objective way to determine what is, or who is, a good candidate. However, past experience, involvement and s uccess may be a starting point. There are many persons who prima facie would appear to make a good candidate, but who choose to shun front-line politics. Before we get all philosophical about what attributes make a good candidate, there is a very practical aspect to candidate selection that must be rememberedyou can only choose from among those will ing (or able to be persuaded to step forward. So even though you may be perplexed by the presence of some members on a particular slate, that weak ness may have a greater benefit in the optics of being able tofield a full slate. There are many competent and qualified professionals who are unable, or have no interest, in running for political office. This may be for personal reasons or after having concluded that they do not need the frustrations of elected office. However, under our system you can have a maximum of three Cabinet ministers who are not elected parliamentarians. Currently, the Ministers of Labour, Tourism and Justice (Attorney General) serve via Senate membership. Therefore, the Senate, as presently structured, gives a Prime Minister the opportunity to strengthen his Cabinet if n eeded. Knowing your boundaries I wish to go on record as saying to all three major parties that, while winning the next election is your prime objective, the morning after the election only one party will have t he peoples mandate. Therefore it is incumbent upon all political parties to be vigilant in ensuring that their party machinery in its desire to windoes not cross the line in attacking offices, positions, and institutions within the country. There is nothing wrong with expressing a desire to reform a national institution, but it should not go as far as denigrating our national institutions to gain cheap political brownie points. Individual candidates a re fair gamebut not their families. Recent Development During recent elections we have seen the widespread use of foreign pollsters by the major parties. These foreign pollsters, who come at a high cost, conduct surveys, polls and interview focus group in order to gather critical market intelligence and shape the public messages of political parties. I guess we may conclude that they provide an invaluable service, because their roles and prevalence have expanded significantly with each election. However, it would be wise for political parties to be mindful of the dangers of over-reliance on polls and not doing your work on the ground. This is the so-called Bradley Effect, named for Tom Bradley, an African-American who became the first black mayor of a major US city and served five terms as mayor of Los Angeles. Going into the election for California governor in 1982, polls gave Democratic Los Angeles mayor Bradley a lead of anywhere from nine to 22 points over his Republican opponent, state Attorney General George Deukmejian. After the votes were cast and counted, Mr Bradley had lost by 1.2 percentage points. The lesson here is that people have a tendency to tell pollsters what they think the pollster wants to hear as opposed to what they intend to do. The economics of politics I have never quite understood the economics of politics. Political candidates always argue that they seek election in order to serve the Bahamian people. This is indeed a noble and correct position to take, but the reality is that politics is an extremely expensive undertaking not only in monetary t erms. For many, serving requires significant career and family sacrifices. Further, it is a known fact that many individuals suffer significant economic losses by offering, then serving. The way political campaigns are conducted has changed profoundly in the last 30 years. In the past a candidate got posters from his party, financed t-shirts for his campaign volunteers and hit the streets, going door-todoor. On every walkabout the candidate had a couple hundred dollars in small change for those asking for handouts. At the national level, the party organised rallies and saw to the logistics of taking its broader message from constituency to constituency. Today, it is a whole new ball game. I am told that a major political party requires about $3-4 million to contest a respectable national campaign. There has been speculation of political parties spending as much as $10 million on political campaigns. At the candidate level, I am told you could be looking at $100,000 on average for a local candidate. In the case of a Nassau-based candidate in a Family Island district, you can add another 50 per cent or more for a bare bones campaign. I do not know what the real numbers are, but any intellig ent person who does a cursory calculation of election expenditures can conclude that very large sums are involved. Why is the cost so high? Getting elected today requires the services of many persons. All the major parties today hire foreign political strategists at what cost? In recent times there have been American, British and CARICOM nationals providing strategy advice, writing speeches and coordinating comprehensive media programs. After the strategists you have the songwriters and jingle producers; the purchase of radio and TV airtime; the publication of manifestos, pamphlets, and brochures; the production of clothing lines; and finally, salaries for full-time staffs. If one were to do a proper costing of what candidates spend (party contributions, personal funds, donations, political contributions, volunteer time and fundraising) to get elected the results would be mind-boggling. Conclusion There is nothing Bahamians like better than general elections. Once the actual date is announced, the whole country will be totally absorbed by the various campaigns. Bahamian political rallies are truly unique affairs as they have historically p rovided entertaining political speeches, good food, excellent Bahamian entertainment and an opportunity to catch up with old friends all within a relatively safe environment and topped off by a first class fireworks display. To all of you playing in the political ring, there is no substitute for good old fashioned hard work on the ground. Let the campaigns begin. Until next week NB: Larry R. Gibson, a Chartered Financial Analyst, is vice-president pensions, Colonial Pensions Services (Bahamas subsidiary of Colonial Group International, which owns Atlantic Medical Insurance and is a major shareholder of Security & General Insurance Company in the Bahamas. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Colonial Group International or any of its subsidiary and/or affiliated companies. Please direct any questions or comments to Larry.Gibson@atlantichouse.com.bs BUSINESS T HE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 3B ELECTING TO SPEND NOT ONLY ANSWER FINANCIALFOCUS L ARRYGIBSON By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net THE WATER and Sewerage Corporations ( WSC) general manager told Tribune Business yesterday that it was in a delicate situation with regards to collecting fees at the Tonique WilliamsDarling Highway landfill, adding that the $12 per load tariff was insufficient to cover the cost of operating and investing in the facility. Glen Laville told Tribune Business: The fees do not cover the costs, but were in a sort of Catch 22 situation. If the dump fees are raised peoplem ay start finding alternative, and sort of illegal ways of dumping, rather than paying what the actual cost is. Thats one of those delicate situations, but definitely the tipping fees do not cover the actual cost of operations and investment thats needed. He added: That, along with other issues, are the kind of things we want to address when we get some reform in the sector in terms of the legislation and regulation. If we move towards sector reform and inde pendent regulation by URCA, and also the cre ation of an environmental regulator, then I think we can move closer to ensuring that people follow what the rules and regulations are, and that we are allowed to set the proper tariff to recover the costof some of these treatment facilities. Right now, the reality is the tariff does not cover the cost of operation, and also the cost of the investment that needs to be made. The card system is down now, but that does not mean that the persons do not pay. We do collect the fees but the fact of the matter is the fees are insufficient. A September 2011 Environmental and Social Analysis, prepared by Bahamian environmental consultant Stacey Moultrie for an $81 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB aiming to rehabilitate the Water & Sewerage Cor porations water supply and wastewater treatment provision, reveals how decades of under-investment, neglect, poor maintenance and lack of planning have created conditions that pose a major environmental and health risk. The Tonique Williams-Darling Highway land fills septage and sludge facility, according to the study, is already so overloaded that waste often drains on to properties owned by adjacent busi nesses, such as Bahamas Waste. Collecting due fees from pump trucks and waste disposal companies that use the site is another major challenge. Trucks paid $12 per load regardless of whether it was 2,000 gallons or 4,000 gallons that they dumped. Describing the Tonique Williams-Darling High way landfills septage and sludge facility as not functional, the report revealed that it had never been cleaned since commission some 15 years ago in May 1996. It was in dire need of cleaning and re-design, but there was no heavy equipment capable of accessing the lagoons and accretion ponds to perform the necessary tasks. Mr Laville told Tribune Business: "That's one we're probably going to do under the IDB loan program, so we're waiting for final approvals and everything on that loan program. We may also do it under a build to own and operate concept. Right now its listed as one of the facilities we're going to address under the IDB loan program. That one was somewhere in the region of about $0.7 million, I think thats how much we have budgeted for it. What it will actually cost, that amount is another question." He added: What you have there is occasional overflows. One of the problems we have there is, unfortunately, we have persons dumping waste oils there also. So it's not just sewerage coming there. That was designed to take the waste from sep tic tanks, and also the sludge from the other waste water treatment plants, but there are a lot of contaminants that are usually dumped there from one of the sewer pump trucks. Then you have a high inflow of grease from a lot of the restaurants and other businesses where grease traps may not be working properly, so we get a lot of different types of liquid waste there that the system is not designed to handle. The issues affecting the Pinewood Gardens wastewater treatment plans facility were also detailed in the report, which said the well there constructed to 300 feet deep repeatedly fails as a result of more than 30 years of untreated sewage going into it. Consequently, as much as 250,000 gallons per day of raw sewage can end up on the ground whenever failures occur, the study said. While the Water & Sewerage Corporation was trying to manage this by having pump trucks collect and transport the waste to the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway Landfill, the stop-gap nature of this was exposed by Hurricane Irene. To this, Mr Laville noted: "We have bids in to put a new waste water treatment plant there, and we're doing it under build, own and operate con tract, similar to what we do with the water production. What happens is the private sector comes in. They do all the design, the construction works, and we pay them on a per thousand gallon basis for the sewerage that is treated. That goes over a 15-year period. We already have the proposals in and we're in the process of evaluating them now." WATER CORPS DELICATE SEWAGE TARIFF SITUATION

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recognition from two other jurisdictions in the wake of the Securities & ExchangeC ommissions (SEC K eith Davies said the US regulatory move would further enhance the exchanges credibility in these negotiations. He added that BISX would also examine whether itsr ecognition as a Designated O ffshore Securities Market (DOSM an broker/dealers, either individually or in partnership with global counterparts, pointing o ut that the SEC move effect ively enabled the exchange t o initiate plans that have been in the pipeline for fiveplus years. Explaining that the DOSM designation would enableB ISX to move its internat ional business development plans into a higher gear, Mr Davies said Regulation S of the US Safe Harbour provisions enabled securities of US-registered companies to be sold outside the US. T his, though, could only h appen through DOSM-designated countries, as US regulators are satisfied these nations have comparable rules, regulations and disclosure requirements that will p rovide investors with everyt hing they need to know about their potential investment. Such Regulation S sales can only be made to non-US persons, and Mr Davies said US-registered issuers coulde xploit its permutations in various ways initial public offerings (IPOs US and a DSOM, or through private placements in both locations, even an IPO/private placement split between the two. Were basically looking at U S registered companies d oing offerings and fund raisings through the Bahamas into other jurisdictions around the world, or having foreign investors come to the Bahamas to invest in the o fferings made through the j urisdiction, Mr Davies told Tribune Business. This recognition is external to our market. Its not going to affect the domestic market...... What we will see is increased volume and activityo n the international side in terms of what BISX is, and what we can do for issuers. Once Regulation S or Safe Harbour offerings were completed, the securities involved could be offered for unlimited re-sale, Mr Davies said, and after a certain timep eriod expired, be re-sold b ack into the US. The SEC recognition will essentially enable BISX to move on its international tier development plans. This segment was seen as its main i ncome earner when the e xchange was formally launched in 2000, with ambitious plans, but it is only now -more than a decade later that they appear to be coming close to fulfillment. Confirming that the e xchange would now place development of its BISX Global segment on the fast track, Mr Davies told Tribune Business: What wereg oing to do at BISX is that b asically were going to pull t his rule [Rule S] apart, and apply it in terms of the vario us things we were looking at in anticipation of gaining t his recognition. Weve been talking to a number of financial institu-t ions in anticipation of this, and hopefully well be ablet o develop a platform where w e can use BISX Global as a p latform for offering securit ies internationally. Ever since we announced BISX G lobal over a year ago, weve been looking forward to this day when we had thisl evel of recognition. W hile declining to give names, Mr Davies said BISX had been talking to wellknown financial institutions and specialists in the field who were very credible. W ork on BISX Globals further development would start in earnest immediately, Mr Davies said, adding that this would kick offp lans put in place five-plus y ears ago. Together with its international financial institution partners, BISX would see how it could put it [international recognition] to best use. T he exchange, its chief e xecutive added, would also examine to what extent can this benefit local broker/dealers. We will also look to see whether any aspects of this can be utilised now to help localb roker/dealers, either alone or in tandem with international partners. The main focus, though, was international develop-m ent, as the SEC recognit ion was critical to BISX G lobal. We are looking at other r ecognitions, Mr Davies revealed. I cant say where j ust yet. There are two others we are focusing on to boost and increase our standing int he global market. BISX has been recognised b y both the SEC and the U Ks Her Majestys Reve nue and Customs (HMRC d evelopments that will make it easier to negotiate future d ual recognition agreements with foreign stock exchanges and jurisdictions, due toi ncreased credibility. M r Davies said the SECs DOSM designation had taken three years to achieve. BISX had done all the work in-house, unlike others who hired Wall Street andN ew York law firms, who often charged $100,00 just to file the correct documents. Its a gigantic leap forward for several reasons,M r Davies said. Weve got t o look at it from two angles. Theres the actual recognition and what it allows you to do, and how to take advantage of it for the benefit of the jurisdiction, the B ahamas and the market. The other aspect, and the one Im focused on, is we have the most important securities regulator in the world telling the market were acceptable to them. The US sets the tone for thew orld. Its huge. As the US goes, the world goes. Now, when we go looking for recognition, dual recognitions between jurisdictionsa nd exchanges, point to the f act were already recognised b y one of the worlds leading jurisdictions. We can use that a s a reference point for any steps we take in the future. T he SECs review was described as a very rigorous review, Mr Daviesa dding: They got into the weeds They took a fine toothc omb to every aspect of B ISXs operations. T he SEC review went t hrough every single rule BISX had, plus the Securit ies Commission, the Secu rities Industry Act and the overall jurisdiction. It thenq uestioned how every rule a nd regulation worked, and why the Bahamian exchange did certain things. Mr Davies pledged that BISX would do everything required to maintain thisr ecognition. BUSINESS PAGE 4B, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE s aid it had a potential customer base of 66,000 spread across 13 islands. It added: Whilst approximately 98 per cent o f the population in urban areas of New Providence have access to potable water, only 38 per cent of properties regularly use the waters upplied by Water & Sewerage Corporation. The number of live connections is consid ered to be 41,559, which with an occupancy rate of three people per home, correspondst o a customer base of 124,667 people out of the total New Providence population of 328,097. As a result of former customers ceasing to u se Water & Sewerage Corporation supply, the Corporation considers that there may be as many as 20,000 dormant or inactive water con-n ections. Bahamian consumers, the report added, were also paying $33.50 per head every year in taxes to subsidise the Water & Sewerage Cor poration regardless of whether they used its service, given that the Government subsidised it to the tune of $11 million in the 2010-2011 Budget year for reverse osmosis water purchases. Given the limited availability of freshwater resources on New Providence, and the fact demand exceeded its supply, the Water & Sewerage Corporation had not choice but to make reverse osmosis water purchases. The supply from the reverse osmosis plants has grown by over 450 per cent since 2000, increasing the Water & Sewerage Corpora tions cost of water by $20 million over the same period, the study said. In this context of limited supply and high cost, water lost through non-water leakage at s lightly above 50 per cent, or five million gallons per day, is an unwanted strain on the finances of the Water & Sewerage Corporation. R eferring to the 2009 Water and Sanitation Sector Strategic Plan, which identified numerous revenue raising and cost-cutting initiatives to address the Water & Sewerage Corpora tions financial losses, running at last count at $24 million-plus per annum, the report said significant reductions in non-revenue water w ater lost from the system before reaching the end-customer was key. The long-term aim of the Water and Sanit ation Sector Strategic Plan is to ensure the financial and operational sustainability of the service provided by the Water & Sewerage Corporation, so that potential customers will t urn to the Water & Sewerage Corporation as their preferred service provider and, in so doing, move away from the use of small, shal-l ow wells that are commonly found in New Providence, but which are an inherent health risk due to groundwater contamination froms eptic tanks, cesspools and the like, the report said. A cornerstone to ensure the sustainability of the Water & Sewerage Corporation will be to reduce the current high levels of non-rev enue water to lower levels of around 20 per cent or 2.5 million gallons per day at current flow rates. Some $50 million of the $81 million set to be allocated via the IDB project will go to reducing non-revenue water to this target level within five years, then maintain it for another five years. Of that $50 million, some $13.5 million will go to leak detection and repairs, with another $30 million involving construction works and equipment. FROM page one THE WATER CORPS 20,000 DORMANT ACCOUNT FROM page one GIGANTIC LEAP FOR BISX AS US ISSUER PLATFORM

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BUSINESS T HE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 5B ister of state for finance and an ex-Central Bank of theB ahamas governor, told Trib une Business that S&Ps actions were another wakeup call for the Bahamas in terms of its fiscal position and general economic direct ion. A cknowledging that the Wall Street credit rating agencies were scrutinisingn ations more closely as a result of the European sov-e reign debt crisis, Mr Smith s aid of S&Ps action: Its b asically a signal to us. Its not really a question of beating up on us, but facts a re facts. Were being hit extremely hard in this recession. The macroeconomicf igures show that other C aribbean countries are doing a lot better, and are weathering the storm better. Its saying in our case that our problems are a little bit structural in nature.T here have been shocks to our economy that have not e asily been weathered. Its kind of a wake-up call. Its saying there are people out there looking at o ur economy, and theyre n ot impressed, so we may need to look at it ourselves a nd develop a strategy to stabilise the local economy. S&P said that while the Governments finances had deteriorated since 2008 as a result of the recession, its debt was set to rise more s lowly as deficits decrease a nd there was a gradual tightening of the fiscal s trings. Debt W hile the Bahamian gove rnments debt, excluding the $210 million sale of a 51 per cent stake in theB ahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC equivalent to 5.1 per cent of GDP in the 2010-2011 Bud g et year, this was projected by S&P to decline to 4.5 per cent, and 3.5 per cent, r espectively in the 2011-2012 a nd 2012-2013 fiscal years. N on-recurrent revenues were projected to recovery slowly, and the Wall Street c redit rating agency added: We project net general government debt to continue to g radually rise to 40 per cent of GDP in 2012 from 35 per cent in 2010. Gross general government debt is higher, rising to more than 50 per c ent of GDP by 2012, though with a favourable d ebt composition; 80 per c ent of debt locally issued and held by residents. Although the Bahamas' external financing gap( defined as current account p ayments plus short-term debt by remaining maturity r elative to current account receipts and usable reserves) i s high, it's stable at about 140 per cent in 2011 and 2012, S&P said. Importantly, the govern m ent's external amortisation needs are low, and the bank ing system's non-resident depositor base remains sta b le. In addition, we don't expect that ongoing discus s ions on the debt restructuri ng for Kerzner International, which owns the Atlantis resort, will affect the resort o perations and the balance o f payments. Mr Smith, meanwhile, said S &Ps action was suggesting that the Bahamas closely examine where we are and where we want to go. If tourism stopover arrivals a nd yields did not rise to levels seen in the past, the B ahamas would need to r eplace that lost income. How do you maintain livi ng standards while tweaking the model we have? MrS mith asked. We need a s hort, medium and longterm strategy aimed at c hanging the prognosis, while keeping in mind the m ost important indicator may be the unemployment rate. The impact of S&Ps B ahamas downgrade is likely to be an increase in this nations sovereign borrowing (interest i t need to raise funds on the international market. This is b ecause this nation is now p erceived as more risky to lend to. Mr Smith said the B ahamas borrowing costs p re-downgrade seemed relatively high, and this did not augur well in an environment where the US Fed eral Reserve was holding US rates lower than the true market position. Since weve seen a sharp rise in our foreign debt, we c an expect debt servicing c harges to increase quite rapidly in future, so we need t o keep that in mind as part of planning, Mr Smith said. Z hivargo Laing, minister o f state for finance, acknowledged that the S&P move c ould impact the Bahamas borrowing costs should it go t o the international markets. Emphasising that the Government felt the down grade was largely driven by t he change in S&Ps ratings methodology, Mr Laing said the Government had been working for some time on a s pecific plan to reduce first the trajectory, then lower, t he debt-to-GDP ratio and f iscal deficit. In a statement, the Min istry of Finance said it r emained focused o strategies to encourage foreign direct investment and smallm edium sized enterprises, improving the business environment and increasing workforce productivity. MIXED REACTION TO SCRAP METAL BANS EXTENSION By NATARIO McKENZIE Tribune Business Reporter nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net SCRAP metal operators yesterday had mixed views on the Governments decision to extend the scrap metal export ban and give it more time to enact legislation to regulate the industry. E verett Rolle, proprietor of Caribbean Recycling and TradingS olution on Joe Farrington Road, told Tribune Business: "I cant speak for other companies, but as long was we have permission to ship the non-restricted items sucha s scrap iron, the derelict vehicles, scrap steel, then we can stay in business. For us that is the bulk of o ur shipment. Copper and the restricted items are like 1.5 per cent of our volume. We've made the decision to just eliminate the purchase of copper unless it's a huge contract, whichr equires a whole lot of copper and w e can identify the source. It's too h ard to maintain and the myriad of paperwork you have to maintain for every little purchase, it's just not worth it." Mr Rolle added: We were dead f or two months. The ban was i ssued on July 27. The Government gave me a letter on August 4 indicating that I could ship the nonrestricted items but, with the amount of red tape we had to go through, it took two months before w e were able to ship the first cont ainer. As to the cost of the ban for his operation, Mr Rolle said: "Your fixed costs remained the same with the exception of salaries, becausew e laid off a lot of people, but you h ad to keep a small crew. That a ffected us. The major thing is you had no income for that time. The price of these commodities vary on the world market. During the ban period we were able to sell at onep rice but, during the ban period, t he price on a lot of this stuff just plummeted, so now you have all this stuff that's probably worth half of what it was worth." Lenroy Rolle, of Arrow Recycling, said: I dont have a probl em with the extension, the way I s ee it. This extension isnt a surprise to me. I want the public and everybody to see that recycling is for the betterment of the country and the people, and realise that wea s dealers arent criminals. We h ave to weed out the bad apples; w e cant let one or two spoil the whole bunch. Ronnie Etienne, owner of scrap metal trading firm Ronnys Auto, told Tribune Business: Everybodyw as looking for this week. We all k now what we need to do in order to continue, but if they prolong it now, thats frustration. I havent been able to export anything. It put me back three months. In July, the government placed a t emporary ban on the scrap metal t rade, while imposing a permanent ban on all copper exports in an effort to curb theft and destruction of property said to be linked to the industry. T he Government has to extend t he 90-day ban on the export of s crap metal to accommodate the passage of the Pawnbrokers and Secondhand Dealers Act through the Senate. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham t abled the Pawnbrokers and Seco ndhand Dealers Bill 2011 in the House of Assembly last month, which sets out operational guidelines and regulations for pawn brokers, cash for gold operators and scrap metal dealers. DOWNGRADE A WAKE-UP CALL FROM page one ZHIVARGO LAING

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LOS ANGELES Associated Press AMERICANS' spending on home videos has finally emerged from the recession helped by more purchases ofh igher-priced Blu-ray discs and greater outlays on cut-rate rentals from Netflix and Redbox. For the three months through September, home movie spending rose nearly 5 percent from a year earlier to $3.9 billion, the first increase since early 2008, according to industry organization, The Digital Entertainment Group. B uying digital copies of movies and ordering them from s et-top box video-on-demand services also rose. P eople bought fewer DVDs and made fewer trips to brickand-mortar video rental stores, cutting into the gains. For the year overall spending is down about 2 percent at $12.3 billion. The industry is struggling to cope with a weak economic r ecovery and the gradual wane of the DVD era. The digital discs, once revolutionary for their clarity and durability, were shown the exit once Blu-ray became the industry's high-definition standard in 2008. Compared to a year ago, DVD sales dropped by 15 percent, or about $230 million, to $1.32 billion. Blu-ray disc sales rose by about $156 million, to $423 mill ion. That didn't make up for the DVD drop, even with the help of the popular re-release of the six "Star Wars" movies o n Blu-ray, which racked up $38 million in North America in its first week of sales in late September. T here's still room for Blu-ray to grow. Although Blu-ray player households rose by 52 percent to 33.5 million, that's still only about a third of the TV-owning homes in the U.S. Brick-and-mortar store rentals fell by $142 million to $353 million, but they were more than replaced by a $152 milliong ain in new delivery methods, such as online streaming, video-on-demand, mail-order subscriptions and cheap rentals f rom kiosks. Revenue from those rental methods rose to $1.70 billion. Kiosk rentals made up more than half of those gains. Netflix Inc.'s price hike to customers on Sept. 1 may have bolstered the numbers, and Redbox said it was raising itsn ightly DVD rental fee to $1.20 from $1, which will likely add to the current quarter's totals. The smallest segment remains digital purchases of movies, which rose by about $15 million to $136 million. Movie studios have been concerned that people aren't purchasing digital movies because they are worried the files won't be easi ly transferable to various devices, a concern it hopes to e ase with its UltraViolet view-anywhere standard, which Warner Bros. launched this month. BUSINESS PAGE 6B, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE 1 2 7 & ( (662(;3/25$7,21$1''8&7,21$1*2/$ ))6+25((1785(6f/,0,7(' 1 2 7 & ( ,6 +(5(%
PAGE 13

BUSINESS T HE TRIBUNE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011, PAGE 7B L ONDON A ssociated Press GLOBALstocks fell sharply Monday on concerns about Italy's ability to tame its colossal debts and the news that a U.S. b rokerage firm filed for b ankruptcy over its potent ial exposure to bad European government debt. The New York Federal Reserve suspended MF Global Holdings from conducting new business as a Treasury bond dealer Mond ay and hours later the firm s ought bankruptcy protection after reportedly investi ng $6 billion in sovereign b onds issued by European c ountries. Trading in MF Global stock was halted while banks tocks took s pummeling, with Citigroup Inc. down4.9 percent by midday in New York. "The news that MF Global is in a perilous financial position has contributed to w eakness in equity markets t oday," said Louise Cooper, m arkets analyst at BGC Partners. "It is being billeda s the first American fail u re thanks to the eurozone crisis." U.S. stock markets fol lowed their counterparts in Europe and Asia in sinking. The Dow Jones indus trial average was down 1.3 p ercent at 12,067.71 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.4p ercent to 1,267.56. I n Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 2.8 percent at 5,544.22 while Germ any's DAX fell 3.2 percent to 6,141.34. The CAC40 in France ended 3.2 percent lower at 3,242.84 while the Milan exchange closed down 3.8 percent. The shine c ame off the euro too after its big advance to over $1.40 last week. It was trading 1.5 p ercent lower at $1.3930. Investors L ast week, stocks had enjoyed one of their bestw eeks in months as i nvestors breathed a sigh of relief that eurozone leaders finally presented the outline of a convincing anti-crisis strategy. The threepronged strategy of boosting the bailout fund, getting p rivate creditors to take a bigger hit on their Greek d ebt holdings and forcing t he banks to raise more capital was largely viewed f avorably by the markets, although details need to be ironed out. Many analysts, however, think Europe will end uph aving to do more, especially if bond market i nvestors continue to ask for more in return for buying up Italian debt a p oorly received Italian auction Friday has fueled new concerns. Italy is the eurozone's t hird largest economy and o nly Greece has more debt as a percentage of national income. Italy's debts dwarf the euro1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) that Europe's bailout fund will have at its disposa l if last week's commitments are delivered. Following last week's e uphoria over the plan, i nvestors are in a more s keptical mood this week," said Sal Guatieri, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. "In our view, while the plan will help contain the risk of a European banking crisis and financial contag ion to other countries, it falls well short of resolving the crisis." E arlier in Asia, the main p oint of interest in finan c ial markets was the Bank of Japan's latest intervention to weaken the yen,w hich had hit a new post World War II high against the dollar. The strong yen has dent e d earnings of Japanese corporations such as Nintendo Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. and hurt the economy's recovery from the March 11 earthquake a nd tsunami. Finance Minister Jun Azumi said monet ary authorities could cont inue intervening. Yen T he dollar surged about 5 percent to above 79 yen fora while, before slipping back to 78 yen. Japan's export sector whose fortunes are largely tied to the relative strength of the yen rose abruptly. Isuzu M otors Corp. jumped 3.7 percent. Canon Inc. rose 1 p ercent and Nikon Corp. a dded 1.8 percent. Ninten do Co. gained 1.5 percent. Those gains helped limit the losses on Tokyo'sN ikkei 225 index. It closed 0.7 percent lower at 8,988.39. Analysts are skeptical over whether the intervention will have a long-lasting impact. Previous efforts this year have provided only s hort-term relief. The intervention is likely t o feature at a summit of l eaders from the Group of 2 0 industrial and developi ng nations in Cannes, France, later this week. How to get the global economy moving again is likely to the main topic of debate. There's also a lot of U.S. economic data this week, c ulminating in Friday's monthly jobs report. "The coming week is l oaded with key data/event r isks," said Elsa Lignos, an a nalyst at BMO Capital Markets. The Federal Reserve and t he European Central Bank also meet to decide on their monetary policies this week. The new ECB chief,M ario Draghi, will hold his first meeting and press conference Thursday. Investors will be looking for signs that the ECB is considering cutting interest rates and that it w ill continue its program of buying the bonds of troub led eurozone nations, e specially Italy and Spain. E lsewhere in Asia, mainl and Chinese shares were mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index snapped a five-session winning streak by falling 0.2 percent to 2,468.25, while the Shenzhen Composite I ndex added 0.5 percent to 1,040.93. Hong Kong's Hang Seng s lipped 0.7 percent to 1 9,864.87 and South Kore a 's Kospi fell 1.1 percent to 1,909.03. Oil prices tracked equit ies lower, with the bench mark rate for December delivery down $1.48 at $91.84 a barrel in electron i c trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. S PECIALIST PATRICK MURPHY right center, directs trading at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday. (AP STOCKS DROP AS EUROPEAN DEBT FEARS RETURN

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ATHENS, Greece Associated Press T AKINGa huge political gamble, Greece's prime minister announced Monday that his debt-strapped country will hold a referendum on the new European debt deal reached last week the firsts uch vote in 37 years. Prime Minister George Papandreou appeared to take many lawmakers by surprise by saying that a hard-bargained agreement that took m onths for Europe's leaders to hammer out will be put to a public ballot. H e gave no date or other details on the proposed refe rendum, which would be the f irst in Greece since 1974, w hen the monarchy was abolished by a landslide vote months after the collapse of a military dictatorship. "This will be the referend um: The citizen will be c alled upon to say a big 'yes' o r a big 'no' to the new loan arrangement," Papandreou told Socialist members of parliament. "This is a supreme act of democracy and of patri-o tism for the people to make their own decision ... We have a duty to promote the role a nd the responsibility of the citizen." The move allows Socialist l awmakers who have been vilified by an increasingly hostile public during months o f strikes, sit-ins and violent p rotests over rounds of austerity measures to pass the responsibility for the country's fate to the Greek people themselves. F inance Minister Evangel os Venizelos, a constitutiona l law professor, said the referendum was called after opposition parties repeatedly failed to side with the government in negotiationsb etween Greece and other eurozone members. Greece is living through a drama, from which it must be released by asking the people to express its will,"V enizelos told parliament. "Each citizen will make his own decision, with responsibility, in a process that will p rovide a national sense of r elief and recovery." Later he told private A ntenna television: "It is very clear: The new agreement will b e submitted to parliament f or approval and then submitted to the judgment of the G reek people ... the Greek p eople can of course say 'no' b ut must bear in mind the c onsequences of that decision." V enizelos indicated the referendum would be held early n ext year, after weeks of c omplex negotiations to finali ze details of the new agreem ent. The new debt deal aims to s eek 50 percent losses for pri vate holders of Greek bonds and provide the troublede urozone member with ?100 b illion ($140 billion t ional rescue loans. Papandreou's government has seen its majority reduced to just three seats in parliament and its approval ratingsp lummet amid harsh austeri ty measures that are sending the country into a fourth year o f recession in 2012. The EU statistics agency Eurostat estimated in ar eport issued Monday that unemployment in Greece reached 17.6 percent in July even higher than the G reek estimate for that month of 16.5 percent. "This is just the latest twist i n the unfolding Greek tragedy," said Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-D efine, a London-based t hink tank. "With an irresponsible opposition that is promisingG reek voters the moon, it is very difficult to see how this referendum could be wonu nder the ongoing gutwrenching austerity." Eurozone countries strug gled for months to overcome t heir differences before reaching the Oct. 26 agreement the second broada greement reached in four months and it is likely to cause major concern for EU officials. Germany's Finance Ministry noted late Monday that "the summit of the eurozone's heads of states and g overnments last Wednesday f ormulated clear expectations. Accordingly, the seco nd aid package for Greece s hall be finalized by year's e nd." At the moment we are all working on this with high i ntensity," it said in a statement. B ut it declined to comment d irectly on the ballot, saying the announcement of a refe rendum is a development in Greece's domestic politics on w hich the (German ment has no information yet." British Foreign Secretary W illiam Hague said the refe rendum was "a matter for t he Greeks." "Every country needs to have their own domestic political approach to the problems ... The conse q uences of a 'yes' or 'no' vote are something that will have to be debated in Greece," H ague told Channel 4 News. "We look to all the coun tries in the eurozone to honor t he agreements they have entered into." In Greece, opposition par ties accused the government o f calling the vote to save its teetering government, threat ened by growing dissent fromS ocialist dissenters. "The prime minister is trying to buy time," said CostasG ioulekas of the conserva t ive New Democracy party said. "We want clear solutions. And a clear solution iso bvious: Elections." Under Greece's constitu tion, a referendum requires a pproval by parliament before it is officially declaredby the country's president. Gioulekas would not sayw hether his party would back a "yes" vote. Support for the Socialists h as eroded so much that antigovernment protesters forced authorities Friday to cancel an annual military parade to honor World War II veterans, causing deep embarrassment to the government. BUSINESS PAGE 8B, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2011 THE TRIBUNE 52wk-Hi52wk-LowSecurit y Previous CloseToday's CloseChangeDaily Vol.EPS $Div $P/EYield 1 .190.97AML Foods Limited1.181.180.000.1480.0408.03.39% 10.639.05Bahamas Property Fund10.6310.630.00-0.6420.080-16.6 0.75% 7.504.40Bank of Bahamas6.936.930.000.2300.10030.11.44% 0.530.17Benchmark0.180.180.00-0.0480.000N/M0.00% 2.842.55Bahamas Waste2.702.700.000.0300.09090.03.33% 1.961.77Fidelity Bank1.771.770.000.0970.04018.22.26% 11.108.29Cable Bahamas8.468.460.000.2450.32034.53.78% 2.802.33Colina Holdings2.602.600.000.4380.0405.91.54% 8 .508.33Commonwealth Brewery8.508.500.000.7400.00011.50.00% 7.006.21Commonwealth Bank (S1 6.546.540.000.4960.32013.24.89% 2 .001.63Consolidated Water BDRs1.861.85-0.010.1110.04516.72.43% 1.771.31Doctor's Hospital1.371.370.000.0740.04018.52.92% 5.504.75Famguard5.435.430.000.4980.24010.94.42% 7 .505.35Finco5.355.350.000.7570.0007.10.00% 9.457.75CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank8.148.140.000.4940.35016.54.30% 6.005.00Focol (S 5.335.330.000.4350.22012.34.13% 1.001.00Focol Class B Preference1.001.000.000.0000.000N/M0.00% 7.305.58ICD Utilities7.307.300.00-0.1220.240-59.8 3.29% 10.809.80J. S. Johnson9.829.820.000.8800.64011.26.52% 10.0010.00Premier Real Estate10.0010.000.001.2070.2008.32.00% 52wk-Hi52wk-LowSecuritySymbolLast SaleChangeDaily Vol. 99.4699.46Bahamas Note 6.95 (2029BAH2999.460.00 1 00.00100.00Fidelity Bank Note 17 (Series A) +FBB17100.000.00 100.00100.00Fidelity Bank Note 22 (Series B) +FBB22100.000.00 100.00100.00Fidelity Bank Note 13 (Series C) +FBB13100.000.00 100.00100.00Fidelity Bank Note 15 (Series D) +FBB15100.000.001 BISX LISTED & TRADED SECURITIES AS OF:7% Interest 19 October 2022 Prime + 1.75% Prime + 1.75% 6.95%MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2011BISX ALL SHARE INDEX: CLOSE 1,367.16 | CHG -0.01 | %CHG 0.00 | YTD -132.35 | YTD % -8.83BISX LISTED DEBT SECURITIES (Bonds trade on a Percentage Pricing basis)Maturity 19 October 2017 W W W.BISXBAHAMAS.COM | TELEPHONE: 242-677-BISX (2479) | FACSIMILE: 242-323-2320FINDEX: YEAR END 2008 -12.31%30 May 2013 20 November 2029 7% RoyalFidelityMerchantBank&TrustLtd(Over-The-CounterSecurities) 29 May 2015 52wk-Hi52wk-LowSymbolBid $ A sk $Last PriceDaily Vol.EPS $Div $P/EYield 1 0.065.01Bahamas SupermarketsN/AN/A14.00-2.9450.000N/M0.00% 0 .550.40RND Holdings0.350.400.550.0010.000256.60.00% 41.0029.00ABDAB30.1331.5929.004.5400.0009.030.00% 0.550.40RND Holdings0.650.750.400.0290.00024.130.00% 52wk-Hi52wk-LowFund NameNAVYTD%L ast 12 Months %NAV 3MTH 1.57791.4674CFAL Bond Fund1.5779263.39%5.87%1.548717 3.02482.9020CFAL MSI Preferred Fund3.02482.63%3.94%2.981382 1.61281.5289CFAL Money Market Fund1.61512.61%4.53%1.591803 2.72022.5398Royal Fidelity Bahamas G & I Fund2.5730-5.41%-9.79% 13.849313.2825Royal Fidelity Prime Income Fund13.73472.82%1.94% 114.128999.4177CFAL Global Bond Fund114.09222.35%13.88%114.128861 118.4255101.6693CFAL Global Equity Fund118.42552.30%8.26%116.580785 1.17491.0000FG Financial Preferred Income Fund1.18773.59%4.94% 1.13431.0000FG Financial Growth Fund1.14152.06%4.07% 1.17641.0000FG Financial Diversified Fund1.18903.47%5.04% 9.9952 9.5078Royal Fidelity Bah Int'l Investment Fund Principal Protected TIGRS, Series 19.94330.98%4.58% 11.49859.8690Royal Fidelity Bah Int'l Investment Fund Principal Protected TIGRS, Series 210.96520.78%5.70% 10.68139.6635Royal Fidelity Bah Int'l Investment Fund Principal Protected TIGRS, Series 310.60135.75%13.20% 8.85647.8830Royal Fidelity Int'l Fund Equities Sub Fund8.65073.01%18.38% BISX ALL SHARE INDEX 19 Dec 02 = 1,000.00 YIELD last 12 month dividends divided by closing price 52wk-Hi Highest closing price in last 52 weeks Bid $ Buying price of Colina and Fidelity 52wk-Low Lowest closing price in last 52 weeks Ask $ Selling price of Colina and fidelity Previous Close Previous day's weighted price for daily volume Last Price Last traded over-the-counter price Today's Close Current day's weighted price for daily volume Weekly Vol. Trading volume of the prior week Change Change in closing price from day to day EPS $ A company's reported earnings per share for the last 12 mths Daily Vol. Number of total shares traded today NAV Net Asset Value DIV $ Dividends per share paid in the last 12 months N/M Not Meaningful P/E Closing price divided by the last 12 month earnings FINDEX The Fidelity Bahamas Stock Index. January 1, 1994 = 100 (S) 4-for-1 Stock Split Effective Date 8/8/2007 (S1) 3-for-1 Stock Split Effective Date 7/11/2007NAV Date 31-May-11 30-Sep-11BISX Listed Mutual Funds30-Jun-11 30-Sep-11 NAV 6MTH 1.535365 2.952663 1.580804 111.469744 115.762221TO TRADE CALL: CFAL 242-502-7010 | ROYALFIDELITY 242-356-7764 | FG CAPITAL MARKETS 242-396-4000 | COLONIAL 242-502-752531-Jul-11 30-Jun-11 31-Jul-11 5-Aug-11 30-Jun-11MARKET TERMS30-Sep-11 31-Jul-11 RoyalFidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Ltd (Over-The-Counter Securities) CFAL Securities Ltd. (Over-The-Counter Securities)31-Jul-11 31-Jul-11 31-Jul-11 :,'/<1(7,0$RI:+,7),(/' 675((73%2;1$66$8%$+$0$6 '$9,')5$1&,6RI)$,7+ *$5'(161$66$8%$+$0$6 67(3+$1921+$6(RI ($67(5152$'3%2;1$66$8 %$+$0$6 GREECE GAMBLES ON REFERENDUM FOR NEW DEBT DEAL GREEK PRIME MINISTER George Papandreou, left, addresses Socialist members of parliament in Athens, Monday. Papandreou says his country will hold a referendum on a new European debt deal reached last week. Papandreou gave no date on other details of a proposed referendum on the deal that aims to seek 50 percent losses for private holders of Greek bonds and provide the troubled eurozone member with euro 100 billion ($140 billionAP NEW YORK Associated Press OIL SOARED17.7 percent in October on the expectation that the world's thirst for petroleum would keep growing despite economic struggles in the West. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark oil in the U.S., jumped from about $79 to $93 per barrel during the month as fears of another U.S. recession subsided while Europe struck a landmark deal to reduce Greece's debt. Demand from emerging markets remains strong. And a strategy calling for traders to buy WTI futures contracts while selling another variety, Brent crude, also boosted the price of WTI. The conditions that fostered the increase remain in place. "Oil demand is higher worldwide," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "Other parts of the world, most notably South America, are consuming a lot of our (petro leum) products." Independent oil analyst Andrew Lipow expects benchmark oil to hit $100 per barrel by the end of the year. But this has been a year of pronounced swings in the price of oil. WTI hit a high of $113.93 at the end of April, after starting 2011 at around $91 per barrel. Analysts say a number of factors will influence prices for the next two months and into next year: How much oil will Libya contribute? Oil demand is on track to exceed supply in the second half of 2012 by about 1 million barrels per day. But a return of Libyan oil to the market could fix the shortage. Libya was exporting 1.5 billion barrels of oil daily before the eight-month rebellion that ultimately ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi. Will Europe continue to struggle? Eurozone leaders hammered out an agreement last week to bolster the region's banks. The decision was regarded as a landmark development that put Europe on the path to resolving a lingering credit crisis. However, its banks are still weak, debts are still high, and investors are unsure if it has really turned the corner. More government stimulus in the U.S.? The U.S. economy is growing, but the 2.5 percent growth estimated for the third quarter is hardly a fervid pace. Ana-l ysts speculate that the Federal Reserve may try something similar to last year's $600 billion bond-buying program to boost the economy. As a result of that program, the dollar fell and oil surged. Another Arab Spring? Oil traders are keeping a wary eye on unrest in the Middle East. In Syria, for example, protesters have clashed with the government for sevenm onths, leaving an estimated 3,000 people dead. Continuing violence in Syria and other oil-rich nations could hamper world sup plies and push prices higher. On Monday, WTI slipped 13 cents to end the month at $93.19 per barrel while Brent crude gave up 35 cents to $109.56 per barrel in London. Traders continue to be wary of an economic downturn in the West. The Organi zation for Economic Cooperation and Development said the European economy is headed for a "marked slowdown" next year. Analysts also note that Europe will need to slash spending and cut entitlement programs over the next several years to keep budgets in line, and that will hurt oil demand. China, India and other developing nations are expected to buy whatever oil Europe doesn't use. The U.S. expects daily global oil consumption to average at 88.4 billion barrels this year and 89.8 million barrels next year. While oil has become more expensive this month, gasoline prices have held steady. Gasoline, which is made from crude oil, ended the month at a national retail average of about $3.443 per gallon, according to auto club AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline prices tend to flatten in the fall as the sum-m er travel season ends and refineries are allowed to start making a cheaper-blend of winter fuel. It's a different story for heating oil and natural gas. Both are used to heat homes and business, and tend to get more expen sive as the weather cools. Heating oil and natural gas futures rose by 9.5 and 7.3 percent, respectively, duringO ctober. Prices are likely headed higher in coming months. A nor'easter already blanketed the East Coast over the week end, knocking out power to 3.1 million cus tomers, and the National Weather Service predicted an especially chilly winter with above average snow and rain. The Energy Information Administration said homeowners will spend 3 percent more for natural gas than they did a year ago. Those who burn heating oil will spend about 8 percent more. About half of U.S. households heat their homes with natural gas, though about 80 percent of homeown ers in the Northeast use heating oil. OIL RISES 18 PER CENT IN OCTOBER